doctor_copy.jpgTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -Lawyers are challenging a new law designed to protect doctors facing medical malpractice suits. Five suits were filed in state and federal courts Monday by lawyers who want to see the law thrown out. 

The law went into effect Monday. It requires that expert witnesses who are called against a defendant doctor practice the exact same kind of medicine and not just be in similar fields.

It also allows any health care provider called as a witness to breach patient confidentiality and give the defendant's attorneys information about a patient's treatment.

The lawsuits argue that the law violates the right to privacy guaranteed in the state constitution as well as a federal law that protects patients' privacy.